rj59

The only way it matters is you have to spend 5 minutes to pick up your medallion after checking in. The problem I have is that there's no order or lines to it, such as in other ports, based on last name, so it's like ordering at a crowded bar, where you have to grab someone's attention to get served, with everyone else trying to do the same.

I haven't had problems with Discovery mattresses. On the other hand, the floodlights getting up to go to the bathroom in the night makes me feel like I'm on a prison break.

The main sight of PV is free, just strolling the Malecon downtown, with sculptures and Indian pole dancers (not that kind), and shops/restaurants, as well as the town cathedral. Then there's, um, Walmart and a mall across from the port, which has Starbucks, Chilis, and a/c. You can go with others in a taxi, or be adventurous and take the city buses for 25 pesos or so. The Malecon will be more interesting than any place they take you to, like Gringo Gulch, just a shopping river area off the Malecon. Coolest prep for PV is watching "Night of the Iguana", filmed with Burton shacking up with Liz Taylor there, but really interesting to see how the town looked back then. For Mazatlan, any ship bus tour will be less interesting than the ebike tour you can get for $45 through shoreexcursionsgroup, since it goes to the same spots as the bus tours but the leader gets you up close to cliff divers and other sights.

It's not really a big deal. There's salmon, but you can get that every night at dinner.

Yes, I did it on my last cruise, just a 2-night. They asked me how many tokens I wanted, and I kept some for future cruises. It makes perfect sense to them, since the labor involved in washing and delivering individual laundry and risks of loss is much higher than just using a laundromat. If you get any reluctance from the front desk, just say you're out of clean underwear and don't have time to wait for regular laundry delivery.

On my last two Princess cruises I asked my water/Coke to be switched out for Coke Zero, but they only had Diet Coke. They did have Sprite Zero, though. Another approach, which I do, is to buy a 2L bottle at the first port of call in a convenience store, usually in Cabo---'sin azucar'.

Gelato isn't covered, but it's free in the MDR for lunch. They may call it by other names, but it's the same gelato you'd have to pay for.

the big difference for Endicott/Dawes is that it has a sharp, narrow turn to get to the Glacier, and if there's significant ice in the turn, the captain won't go there, so you'll only get a distant view of the rather small glacier, unless you pay for a boat excursion that leaves from the ship. In summer of 2022 I went on 3 cruises to Dawe's, and Discovery didn't get close, nor did Carnival, but Celebrity Solstice did. Glacier Bay doesn't have that problem, because you end up in a bay at the end and ships can get closer to the glacier that calves and is more attractive. Unfortunately, most of the other glaciers in Glacier Bay are receding, so not very impressive. The most impressive glacier is Hubbard, which is immense and actually growing, and when you see the calving it sounds like a cannon going off.

I'm doing Island Princess 14nt r/t from Rome, on Nov 23 to Greece/Turkey/Italy/Cyprus for $690 inside, with $500 in combined military/shareholder credits. It can also be booked as a 28-night transatlantic from Rome-FLL for $1300. If you want Caribbean, HAL has several at the end of November, from 10-21 nights, for a little over $100, on Eurodam and Rotterdam--they're on cruiseplum Hot Deals (excellent source, since I scored a $800 Azamara Spain 7-nt cruise and a $900 9-nt Virgin from Barcelona-Athens there before they quickly sold out).

Don't do the blow hole, it's a rip off and you'll get surrounded by pesky vendors. The best thing for kids is a water fountain in the park area right next to the port, as well as a playground there and some snack vendors and tables. There's free public wifi in that area too. It's easy to find--just look for the huge Mexican flagpole. The fountain might not work until later in the day, but it plays to music and local kids might be playing there. With school out, a lot of families and kids might be there too. If you walk further along the harbor there should be unusual Christmas displays. There's a little market there too for locals, with cafes, as well as fishermen and a stinky fish market. When you get to the stinky fish market (kids would find it entertainingly gross to see the various kinds of unusual fish), turn right and head into town, across busy streets with crosswalks, and you'll be at the end of the main tourist shopping street. Getting there you'll pass a nice candy store with lots of unique local options in bins, so it would be fun for kids to try different Mexican treats. Then when you get to the main shopping street there will be tons of vendors and souvenirs. There's a McDonald's with restrooms if you buy something. That street is perfectly safe, because the vendors and city depend on tourists. If you keep going several blocks past McDonalds, there are some nice little cafes and restaurants, with fewer souvenir shops. Don't go into a farmacia and buy tablets of any kind, because they have Mexican security at the port who will confiscate them. If you go back by the flagpole, there's a big plaza on the other side with some huge busts of famous people, which makes some good photo ops, as does the fountain with the ship in the background.

Actually, the Ruby is an excellent choice, but mainly because of the itinerary. Most of the larger Princess ships go r/t from Seattle, which means more expensive fares, going up and back to Alaska to the west of Vancouver Island, meaning rougher seas and no scenery, and having to make a useless evening stop in Victoria on the way back. N/S routes mean you have to fly into or out of Anchorage and make the long transfer to the ship. Going R/T from Vancouver is nicer, because you go on the East side of Vancouver Island, Ruby is smaller than all the larger ships, which are less maneuverable in some tight turns in Alaska waters, and are too big to fit under the bridge in Vancouver unless they go at times that fit the tides. Ruby won't have any of those problems, and shouldn't be as crowded as the larger ships sailing out of Seattle--a waiter said Royal was sailing at 4,000 much of the time. The other advantage of Ruby for Alaska is a promenade that goes around the deck close to the water, whereas the newer, larger ships don't have that at all, just a few aft outside viewing areas. The front of the promenade on Ruby is up a deck but open, so when you're in Glacier Bay that's a great spot to watch wildlife on the ice floes or even for glacier viewing, as is the rest of the promenade, since you're close to the water. The only thing I really dislike about Ruby are the cattle pen buffet areas, where you get funneled into an area, but one way to cope with that is to go all the way aft, since there's another buffet section that's just a couple of long, less chaotic lines, that's usually not crowded, but not always open. Another unique place on Ruby, one also great for viewing, is Skywalker's Nightclub, which is aft but should have some good views during the day. Unfortunately, Ruby doesn't have a covered pool area, like some others, but none of the newer ones do either, except for Majestic, so the pool areas can get pretty cold and windy when the ship is moving. But for Alaska it's not so much the ship as the experience and the sights, and I think you get a better experience on a smaller, older ship, especially with ships sailing so full now.

The advantage of Princess is that they have cancel for any reason, with a certain amount given as a FCC. It's even better if you're Elite, because you get the higher Platinum insurance for the price of the basic plan. Princess handles that aspect of it, rather than the insurance company, which helps. It also depends on your fare, since it's based a percentage of it, 8% or so, so it was dirt-cheap for a $700 14-night to Europe next month. Medical bills on board add up quickly, and medivac would be even more costly, so it's well worth it.

If you google carnival shareholder credit, you can download a PDF with email, phone number, and requirements for every Carnival brand.

The problem I had with Lincoln Center was that every group on every ship played the exact same program. While "Stairway to Heaven" in a quartet is cute the first time, it's awful after that. All the HAL ships used to have an Idagio duo, often from Ukraine, so a big help to the musicians who fed families for a year with a contract. It sounds like Zaandam and Volendam have that now, since they never had a Lincoln Center stage, fortunately. The larger problem is that lack of a production show, which every other line has, and Celebrity new ships have 2 production companies and 7 different shows per week in 3 different venues. Like Lincoln Center, they had Step One Dance, usually with the same two shows every cruise, on every ship. On Eurodam they seemed to have replaced even that, with 4 lame singers. The looks I saw on fellow passengers were "I got dressed up on formal night for this?" I suffered through 2 songs before walking out. If HAL is going to charge premium prices, then they should not only provide premium food and service, but also premium entertainment. Not having a production show in the main theater is not acceptable, since even Carnival pays for a production cast, and NCL and Royal, lower-cost brands, have actual Broadway shows. It's especially galling on the newer ships, with the fabulous LCD screens and theaters and nothing worthily to put on the stage, just singers and lectures and a nature documentary.

I show up at noon, if possible, regardless of assigned times. In FLL on Apex, that meant everyone waiting had already boarded, and it took me 15 minutes from entering the terminal to getting on the ship.

The watch will mimic your phone, so put your phone in airplane mode. You can also use multiple devices on a plan, but only one at a time, so if you use a phone and tablet you can log out of one to use the other. Two things to know--for time changes at sea, you have to go into general settings and change date and time to manual, and then input a city from the time zone where you're at--iPhones won't adjust the time with ship wifi. If you have screen time, you have to turn it off to manually set the time. Secondly, if you use your Apple Watch for walking, it will give you several miles for a short walk, because it's seeing the ship's movement as you. So if you want to close rings, I use high-intensity workout setting, which just takes into account your heart rate, not distance.

I was on a Cunard 3-night in August. Entertainment is more traditional, with large ballrooms with dancing, with no Broadway or other edgy shows. If you don't want to dress up on formal nights, you can still go to the buffet or the pub, which has really good fish and chips and other things for both lunch and dinner (and an excellent beer list). Cunard ships also have a forward observation lunch and wraparound promenade by the water with very nice padded loungers, which would be nice for a Norway cruise and watching fjords. It will be smaller than the large NCL ships, with few kids, so easier getting on and off the ships, less crowding in public spaces. The dining is superb, for all meals, without all the specialty restaurants of NCL. Their room service is also free and amazing, things like Thai curry and stuff I found better than an NCL dining room. They do a fancy afternoon tea, but if you don't want the crowds and waiting for service, you can just go to the buffet and they have the same snacks and tea. Service will be much better, especially steward service. From what I remember, drinks are priced decently, such as $6 or so for most beers. If you want a good review from a young cruiser trying it for the first time, search Cunard Emma Cruises on YouTube, and she'll have menus and such on her blog page--I watched her review before going, and saw that it wouldn't be as formal as I'd feared. So I saw families in shorts eating in the buffet on formal nights, and I just packed a dark jacket and slacks and tie, and didn't feel out of place in the MDR, even with all the people in tuxes. They also have themes for each formal night, like red or white, and it's kind of nice to watch people all dressed up and dancing in the ballroom in the evening, and the classic style of the ship, particularly QM2. Best of all, I didn't experience any nickel-and-diming or cuts in service, which all the other lines seem to be doing now, especially NCL.

I'll be on the same cruise. There are plenty of Barcelona options, so I wouldn't use the cruise line, including lots of AirBnB type options that the cruise line wouldn't use. For flights, just wait and see what they can offer. Princess and Celebrity will give you flight options online, but it looks like you have to call VV, but I suppose you could ask for a quote. I'm taking Icelandair for my next two cruises to Europe from Seattle and Vancouver, because I like having two shorter flights and clearing Schengen zone in Iceland, quick and easy, and paying a bit more for an exit-row seat on their smaller planes. I don't think they fly to Athens, but on one flight I'm taking Easy Jet to London and then doing Icelandair from there. So I'd see what they offer and then try on your own. The advantage of cruise air is that they can combine different airlines and multi-city itineraries, whereas if you book on your own, you usually have to stick with a single airline or codeshare group to get a good fare.

I just did a screen shot of my status, which was enough to match Princess Elite. So now I have $700 on my bar tab, plus $10 in daily coffee, and 9 days in Europe to use it by myself.

It's supply and demand and raising money for new ships, or to pay off pandemic debt, especially for main cruise lines. I was spoiled by dirt-cheap fares and low-occupancy ships after restart, but perhaps a recession or war would dampen cruising, or when the older generation of cruises passes on (which wouldn't impact Virgin so much). What I do, especially as a solo, is to monitor prices and look for deals, especially on cruiseplum, which has sections for hot deals, last-minute deals, and solo deals, which is where I found the incredible deal for the Barcelona-Rome 9-night cruise next October, that sold out rather quickly, evidently because it was the result of a ship delay and other cruises getting canceled. There are still relative deals for shorter cruises out of London before it goes to Barcelona. The one I'll be on is quite ideal, because I'm bored by the Caribbean, the other European trips for Virgin aren't terribly impressive, since partying in Ibiza isn't my thing, and I want the most time on board Virgin to appreciate it all.

If it's Royal, I hope they keep a smaller ship in SF, for variety. I think NCL Bliss is moving away from LA too, since I saw it on a European itinerary, so perhaps the Joy will replace it. I dislike the Konigsdam for HAL out of San Diego, too large and without a wraparound promenade, so I hope HAL will also shake things up with a smaller ship. I'm going to try the new Carnival Firenze out of Long Beach next December, which will also year-round Cabo and 4-night itineraries, which will make 3 Carnival ships and hopefully keep prices lower on the ones out of San Pedro. Celebrity is already giving up on Mexico, which is a shame, because most of my cruises out of San Pedro were at under 50% occupancy, with some bargain fares, even under $250 for some 6-night ones through December, when they leave for good.

I actually love Majestic, for the only Royal class ship with a covered pool and a forward-facing observation area, with the quirky wall map and topiary and xylophones. I sailed them 3 times in Mexico after restart, and was disappointed when I returned last year and saw that the cool Chinese murals of dragons and butterfly wings on the so-called walking track were painted over. Some of my favorite ships have been ones repurposed from China--Majestic, Ovation of the Seas, and Norwegian Joy.

No need for urgency. It's usually handled within a day now. If it doesn't happen close to sailing, you can search and find an office number, which I called once when it got close, and the rep helped me right away, while I was on the phone.

There are ways to adapt. One way I found is trying Azamara in a Spain trip next April, which was quite affordable for a solo inside. Only 700 people max on a ship, many port days until 10 pm, and one overnight on each cruise, with a shoreside cultural activity for the entire ship--it seems like a Rick Steves-type tour where you sleep on a ship, with no casino or theater. Drinks and tips included with no package required. Another is to look at smaller ships--I'm going on Island Princess to Europe next month, and with 2000 or so people, at the end of the European season, and with people probably canceling because Israel stops were cut out, there shouldn't be overcrowding, and with 10 ports out of 14 days, that further cuts down on overcrowding. HAL also has 1400-pax ships, Volendam and Zaandam, that I find a perfect size, with an outdoor promenade where I can escape people if I want. Finally, adjusting itinerary can help--Princess has many N/S Alaska trips that are half the price of ones going out of Seattle (meaning they're probably not full), which a waiter on Royal said were sailing at 4,000 for much of the summer. The low prices on the N/S routes indicates they're not sailing full. Sailing off-season also helps, definitely not during school break times. I took Majestic last spring after it arrived from Australia, and the coastal trip was 50% full and the trip from Australia 30% or so (one-way to/from Hawaii is a shorter, cheaper option).

I haven't gotten so far, since as a solo cheapskate with a low alcohol tolerance, I don't feel the worth. As Elite, I get a minibar setup and half-price Internet also, and now that shareholder and military credits are combinable again, those usually cover gratuities and some drinks. If somebody cuts out a privilege in an effort to push me towards paying more, then I also rebel, so I'm not doing it just to get a few Alfredo's pizzas, and definitely not to get those caloric monstrosities they call premium desserts. II also find that unlimited internet for an entire cruise keeps me from unplugging and enjoying the seas and sunsets and books, so I actually don't want wifi for an entire cruise. Likewise, unlimited drinks encourages me to overindulge, so I don't enjoy the cruise or my food as much. I read an article today about how airlines use 'calculated misery' to create enough pain to get people to pay more, and I just don't like cruise lines doing the same and degrading the basic product, so that Plus becomes not just a bargain or convenience, but a way to get access to what has always been a free restaurant, and one that I always used as a reason for new cruisers to choose Princess. Taking away free room service and Ocean Now delivery also is removing a former benefit for all cruisers as a Plus privilege, and on principle I'm not going to reward Princess for taking away basic cruise privileges, since it only encourages them to remove more things to add to Plus or Premier.